How to Dream for 2020
Today I get to talk with my sweet friend Chloe. She’s interviewing ME about one of the first things we ever built together years ago - The Dream Guide.
Chloe: It's one of my favorite tools that you ever dreamed up. And I guess I've never actually really asked you, where did you originally come up with the idea for The Dream Guide?
Jennie: Well, it wasn't cutely named originally. We would work through different categories of our lives, all the categories that you'll find in this thing. And I think it was just such a good reset for us. And I love resets. I believe in resets because we often get into bad habits or we're just not accomplishing the things that we wish or had set out to do. I think a reset allows us to reevaluate our lives, how we're spending our time and our money and our gifts. I love it. I'm such a sucker for a new year. It's actually my favorite time of the year because everybody's got margin and they can actually think about things like this.
I absolutely agree. And for anybody that has no idea what you're talking about, define dreaming. What are you talking about when you say ‘dream’?
So really simply, I just mean to take the things that you've been given in your life and bring them before God, before a friends or family that love you, and ask God, “this year, what do you want me to do with these things you've given me?” And that can be anything from time, gifts, money, resources, relationships.
And I think dreaming is something God, obviously, is very good at. We are built to do that, too. I know some people are naturally more inclined to do that than others. And that's really why built this is because it helps those that maybe aren't prone to think about their lives and to dream with them. It helps. It's a guide to help do that.
Okay, so let's get practical here. I am just dying to know a few things that you are already thinking about and wanting to work through as you do your dream guide.
So we'll pull out the one from last year, and I already know some things that it says that we did accomplish and we were prioritizing better this year, and I'm excited about looking back. But there are some kind of red flashing lights of things that just did not happen. And specifically, one for me is just local church. Like what does it look like to serve at my local church? It is haunting me. I am such a local church girl. And while I run a massive organization and I'm a writer and all these other things, all of that has always been birthed for me out of local church. So that is going to be one that I'm really praying through and that Zach and I are talking through this year because I just feel like something's missing there. And so that's a good example. It really does walk you through each component of life and how it is that you're doing. You get to look back to the year before and ask, “what was great about this last year? Where did I see growth?” And oh, there are so many ways that I'll be able to do that and see that.
And then to looking forward at new circles of life. I mean, Connor comes home now, and he has lots of friends with him from A&M. We have new circles of people that we're loving and investing in that we didn't have two years ago. So it's just a chance to go, “okay, how are we going to prioritize neighbors? How are we going to prioritize friends? How are we going to prioritize our kids in unique ways and the unique ways that they need it this year?” And so it just helps you be more intentional. I really believe that's the gift of the new year. It's not building these goals that are unattainable. It's not necessarily talking about losing pounds or all that. Health is definitely on there. It's more about just being intentional with what we've been given and how we spend our lives well.
So I'm going to walk everybody through it so you get more of a picture of what it looks like to go through this, and we hope all of you will go download it.
Zach and I have done this our entire marriage. Usually we would do it while we were driving to see family or driving home from seeing family after Christmas. And what I would do is I would just take my mole skin, which I always was journaling with at the time. And I would write these different categories and together while we drive, we talked through, how did this go last year and what do we want to do differently this year? It's everything from physical, working out to spiritual, spending time with God, but also big ideas and dreams that we have. And what does it look like to do relationships in our neighborhood better? And we always walk away with a handful of exciting, fun things that, prior to that, we wouldn't have thought of. Now some of you aren't married, you're not going to do it with your husband, but there is a value in doing with somebody that knows you. So I would gather a few friends and say, “let's do this at the beginning of the year.” And maybe you do it right now before everything gets crazy. But I do think there's something so important and special about when the year turns because I love clean starts. I love to be able to go, “okay, let me wake up and start back in my routine rather than the things I've let go towards the end of the year.” Let's be real. We all let a lot of things go at the end of the year.
So let's talk about dreaming for a little bit, why I care so much about that. Does God care about that? Is that something we've created on our own or does God care about it?
God is a dreamer. He is a dreamer and part of His redemptive work in the world is to have His people dream of how to make it better. Y'all. We are the hands and feet of Christ today on this earth, and the way that we redeem it is by, Tim Keller talks about, taking chaos and causing thriving. And so how can we take chaos and cause thriving without dreaming of a world that is better? And sometimes that's within our four walls. Sometimes that's within our own body. Sometimes that's within the greater world that God's given us. So dreaming is such a heartbeat of God's. You see Him do it throughout scripture. You see His people do it throughout scripture. And you see people today doing it with their gifts in the world. So yes, God cares about this.
And let me tell you how simple it is. It's really just looking at what God has already given you. I wrote a book called Restless, and that might be helpful for you in this, but it talks about laying out the grid that God has given you Specifically, in your place with your people, with your passions, with your gifts, with your past, with your history, with your scars and stars. What does it look like to take all that God has given you, the threads of your life, and to obey Him with it? Y'all, it isn't complicated. I mean, it's funny. Restless is pretty simple. It's the things that are already in your life. How do you take those things and dream with them?
There are four categories to this guide. The first one is spiritual, and you're going to take a look at two questions. First you're going to look back at your last year and say, how did you grow in the last year spiritually and what are your goals this year? And then you're going to walk through these different places of spiritual service, spiritual connection with God - different components of your life spiritually. You're going to work through those and process both how you want to grow in this year and how you grew last year.
And the next we're going to look at relational. We're going to look at your relationships. Who are the people that you want to invest in this year? Who are the people you need? And who are the people that need you? So we're going to look at our friendships, we're going to look at marriage, if it's applicable, kids, if it's applicable, and then also extended family, neighbors, coworkers. How are we investing in those relationships?
And then we're going to look at personal - our personal health, food and exercise, books we want to read, dreams and memories we want to make, travel we want to take this year, work. We're going to look at our finances, our personal growth and education. Because I think so many of these things, if you don't think ahead about them, the year goes by and you have done nothing to invest in yourself, to invest in your creativity, your work. Some of the highlights of my year in the past year have been the time and the money that I've spent in investing in creativity and life coaching and people that could help me take greater ground for the kingdom this year in my job, but also my family and my personal life. And then all of us have projects. We all have different types of projects that we're working on, different types of ministries that we care about. So you want to look at your giving, but also your time and where are you spending it with the projects that God's given you and the passion He's given you.
We want you to talk about this with other people. We want you to talk about this with your good friends. If you have good friends that actually could be brought into this part of your life. We do this with our small groups. So first my husband and I do it together, and then we take it to our small group. It's so cute. Last year, my small group, it was their idea. They all downloaded The Dream Guide and did it together, and then we all came together and gave our answers. It was so fun to hear the different ways we all were dreaming and to be able to hold each other accountable to those things as well.
So you guys, we care about you so much, and our hope is that these different tools are causing you to grow. They're causing you to think differently, to come out of the box of the ways that you're currently thinking and to help you dream bigger. And, and that's why we build these things for you. So I hope this is a super simple, fun way for you to start your year to end this year and to start the next one. So let's go! 2020 is going to be the greatest year, I believe in it.
